Ice Climbers
by Might is Right
Summary: AU. Gray and Natsu climb a mountain and see a wonderful sight.


**Buh, another one-shot instead of the usual story. I am going through some Writers Block for a few of my stories but it isn't too bad. **

**This was actually something I came up with during some class today. And no, this isn't a NatsuxGray yaoi fic. **

**Enjoy.**

"Come on! A few inches more!"

The strained voice was almost lost in the howling icy winds as Natsu Dragneel lay on top of a layer of fluffy snow that could send him plummeting thousands of feet below. He was sticking out his hand for his brother, Gray Dragneel who had gotten himself stuck on a small icy ridge below him.

The two brothers had set out of from their home in Magnolia Town to try to reach the top of Mount Kane, the tallest mountain in Fiore. Many had tried but all had failed, several turning back halfway and even more freezing to death on the mountain's icy sides.

"Just. A. Little. Bit. More!" Gray shouted as he looked through the snow, his right hand carrying an ice pick that gave Gray the tension he needed to stay on the side of the mountain.

Each brother was weighed down by several pounds of equipment, had not felt true warmth in weeks and were starting to feel light headed due to the lack of oxygen at the height they were at. Natsu grit his teeth, barely able to see Gray through his ice crusted goggles. He was reaching his gloved hand out, hoping that Gray could grab on and they could continue. Even with the terrible visibility, Gray could still make out his brother's sakura pink hair and Gray decided he was going to take a risk.

He was going to jump up so he could take Natsu's hand.

It was extremely risky, the jump did not seem to difficult but if Gray missed, he would have a split second to re-grab the ice pick he had stuck in the side of the mountain or else he would take a thousand foot drop off the side of the mountain and that was even if the ice pick stayed in place.

"Damn it. Alright! Natsu! I am jumping so try to grab onto my hand!" Gray shouted as he gathered his nerves and gripped the ice pick tightly in anticipation.

"What! Are you insane man? What if you miss?" Gray barely heard Natsu answer back.

"I wont! Trust me!" Gray shouted as he sighed, watching his breath disappear in a flurry of snow and he looked up, looking for Natsu's hand. He would have to time this perfectly.

Gray finally found a black splotch almost directly underneath the sakura colored hair and Gray took a peek down, looking at the jagged snow capped rocks below and he tried not to think about what would happen if he missed. He looked back up at Natsu's hand, trying to ignore Natsu's shouts.

"Three!" Gray shouted, shivering from the cold, fear or both.

Natsu just grimaced, knowing that his brother's mind was made up.

'_Come on Gray! Just do this already! Don't make me wait!'_ Natsu thought as he started to rethink the expedition. They had come very far, barely making it to this point alive. Several complications had arisen but they had managed to get through it, helping each other through. But now this? They had never been in a life or death situation as daunting as this one.

"Two!"

"Just hurry! Don't make me wait for you!" Natsu shouted, just praying that Gray jumped high enough and that the equipment Gray was carrying wouldn't weigh him down.

"One!"

'_Oh shit.'_

Gray jumped, letting every doubt leave his mind as he travelled into the freezing air, hand out and aiming for the black splotch that hung above him. He swung his arm and Natsu felt something heavy latch onto his arm and he instantly started to walk back, trying to pull Gray up.

"I got you! Don't worry about it!" Natsu shouted as he struggled against Gray's weight and tried to bring him up.

The struggle burned Natsu's muscles and the cold didn't help as Gray slowly started to bring himself up, using his final ice pick to stabilize himself. Gray's arm came up onto the soft snowy layer and Natsu grinned despite how far they still had to go. Natsu crawled over and grabbed Gray's arm and hauled him up and the two brothers fell back into the snow.

Gray got up first, feeling the snow's cold dig into his itching skin. Natsu came after, grinning. Gray looked at Natsu, his eyes barely visible because of the snow around his goggles.

"Hey, you want to just go home?" Gray asked his brother.

"…Yeah."

**Later…**

"W-what h…happened…to…g-going home?" Gray shouted as he grabbed the small rocky ledge and feeling lightheaded due to low oxygen.

"I don't know! S-something about this mountain j-just makes me want to f-finish it!" Natsu shouted as he found a good perch at the top of the mountain.

The conditions were just a little bit better at the top, the sun starting to slowly fall. Natsu was sitting in a small crevice when Gray stumbled over and plopped down next to Natsu, not caring if he fell down. The two brothers sat there, asses freeing off, the sun starting to go down and not much oxygen going through their brains.

"W-we really did it huh, G…Gray." Natsu said, staring into the sunset.

"Yeah. P-pretty good view huh?" Gray asked as the wind swirled around them and the sun's rays warming them just a little bit.

And the two brothers sat there for a while, just watching the sun set. They were the first people to ever reach the peak of Mount Kane and they would have a grand story to tell when they reached the bottom, but that was an entirely different adventure.


End file.
